Introducing the new Upskilled brand

By Yvette McKenzie | 10 December 2018

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You may have noticed something different about Upskilled. As we continue to focus on students’ outcomes, and place our students at the heart of everything we do; we have worked with a leading branding agency to refresh, redesign and renew our look. However, our commitment to best-in-class online learning remains the same.

We’re constantly evolving at Upskilled, based on the feedback we’ve received from the 20,000 students who have studied with us over the last decade. Upskilled now offers around 100 qualifications, across three faculties; Business, Community Services, and Information Technology. Many of our students have gone on to change careers, get the job of their dreams, or have moved on to further study. At Upskilled, we focus on your goals, and we empower you to make them happen.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve built a strong reputation for quality and innovation,” said Joel Gage, Upskilled’s Founder. “Our market research confirmed that evolving our brand was the appropriate strategic move for us. We wanted to enable opportunities for future growth and expansion.

About the updated Upskilled brand

We have developed new Upskilled brand guidelines which are designed to attract, motivate and inspire our students; and emphasise Upskilled’s expertise, credibility and personal approach to vocational education.

We wanted consistent branding standards across all Upskilled communications; so our students could clearly identify with us throughout their learning journey. As we place students at the heart of everything we do, the new Upskilled branding focuses on our most valuable assets: our online learners.

Our new logo

At the centre of our new look and feel, is the new “UP” Upskilled logo. The updated logo is the principal element of our new, refreshed brand identity, and is a unique signature that communicates our image in a simple and clean way. This logo has been designed to reflect the values and standards we, as a company, embody. The logo has several iterations, which can be used in a variety of ways, depending on where and when it’s needed.

Look and feel

We wanted clean, simple backgrounds and to place a focus on the individual, highlighting them in professional spaces, as we acknowledge that many of our students are studying online with Upskilled to gain the skills they need to advance their careers, and follow their dreams. We moved away from stock images, harsh lighting and “staged” photography. We’re real people, who empower real people, to get real results.

Colours

Changing our colours is perhaps one of the more dramatic changes we’ve made. We know that colour plays a key role in all our brand communications, and for that reason, it’s an essential tool, that provides an immediate visual identifier. Our gradient colours are an important part of the brand. The gradient angle represents aspiration and upwards trajectory; the colours go from dark, muted tones; to vibrant, uplifting colours.

Our voice

As part of our rebranding, we wanted to refresh and reenergise at the way we speak to our students, B2B customers, clients and stakeholders. We aim to be direct, approachable, easy to understand and irreverent. The way we aim to speak is simple, human and honest. At Upskilled, we believe that every word matters, and we will continue to be clear and concise. We acknowledge that our students come to us from many different types of backgrounds and are studying everything from short courses to post graduate qualifications.

Our future direction

Upskilled’s new rebranding will be rolled out throughout the next year, with videos, eBooks, online resources and a new look at feel for our blog, SkillsTalk. We’ve added a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section to our website, with the aim of having all the essential information that students need, all in the one place.

As well as this, we have expanded and added a Your Career section, to assist students with matching the job they want to get, with the online course that will get them there. Upskilled also has a comprehensive Industry Insights section, providing detailed statistics on many in-demand industries; including information on job growth, potential salary, key skills and functions; and more.

The new Upskilled brand reflects a modern, approachable look that identifies us as a leader in the Australian education sector,” says Gage. A full background story of the company’s mission and history can be found in our About Us section.